Blob[p]

Last friday I took a day off from work and I decided to go to Amsterdam. Not that I went to work after all, but I went to Het Amsterdams Historisch Museum (the Amsterdam Historical Museum). I wanted to see the exhibition ‘Stadse Beesten’ (City Animals) that will end on September 4. Just as the title says, the exhibition is about animals that live in Amsterdam in the past and now, their life, the danger of living in a city, and how Amsterdammers deal with this. It is an interesting exhibition and I had the chance to draw a few items from the exhibition. Funnily, the Museum encourages young visitors to draw or take photos of things from this exhibition. They even hold a photo and drawing contest, although I am not sure if the contest applies to adult visitors as well. Not that I am going to try to enter the contest … The next several posts will be about my day off and the exhibition. I can say that I had a very creative and productive day, despite the fact that it rained the whole day.

I took tram #2 to go to the center of Amsterdam from a station near Nor’s office. This tram passes by areas that I’d never been to before. It runs along the Koninginneweg and Willemsparkweg. These two streets are parallel to the Vondelpark. It is a wonderful area, full of beautiful grand old houses. One of the street that crosses the Willemsparkweg seems to be a shopping street and the small stores look very chic. I am not sure if it is Emmastraat or Cornelis Schuytstraat, but for sure, I will go back there and check it out.

I arrived a bit too early at my destination, the museum was still closed. So I decided to wait at its neighbour, Cafe Luna on Kalverstraat, and get some more breakfast. I was still hungry .
When I walked in, there was already one customer inside and only one staff in view. The girl ignored me for quite sometime that made me get slightly irritated. But that was before I saw the notice ‘AUB vooraan bestellen’. Oops, that’s why she was ‘ignoring’ me. I had to order at the counter. So I did. I wanted a Dutch pancake, but she said that she could not make that because she had no help. Strange, I thought. So I decided to get a ham and cheese toast instead, with a cup of cappuccino. My order came pretty quick, I ate it and started drawing the interior of Cafe Luna. The decor is quite interesting. They put black and white stripe wallpaper everywhere and in some parts the pattern actually emphasizes the leaning walls. From where I was sitting, I could see on the mirror that the wall behind me and the toilet door aren’t straight at all.
A part of the unique character of Amsterdam.